Utah experiences 700 earthquakes annually, and each is monitored from the U campus.
The University of Utah Seismic Station on the seventh floor of the William Browning Building in the north part of campus houses a computer network that receives “real-time” feeds regarding earthquake information from more than 200 seismic stations in and around Utah.
The Utah area is undergoing pull-apart forces that cause many eruptions in the state. In the Salt Lake Valley region, the Wasatch and Ochre Mountains are slowly pulling in opposite directions causing local quakes in the valley.
Most eruptions are often too subtle to be felt, said Michelle Kline, an earthquake information specialist at UUSS. But the Utah Geological Survey predicts that the Salt Lake Valley has potential for big-scale quakes.
According to the UGS Web site, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area is among the “most hazardous urban areas in the interior western United States,” because of the Wasatch Fault.
Future earthquakes cannot be predicted, so UUSS must be ready at all times to alert the public if a quake does happen.
“It’s like firefighting-we have to respond day and night,” Relu Burlacu, UUSS’ seismic network manager, said.
If a quake reaches a certain magnitude, UUSS has to send an alert to network subscribers, including state and federal agencies such as the Department of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The UUSS operates to inform and protect, but it also exposes U students in the geology field to real industry work.
“(UUSS) provides an interesting challenge to students,” Barlacu said.
Lower-division geology classes often tour UUSS to “have contact with the practical aspect of science,” he explained.
UUSS is one of the U’s designated research facilities, and graduate students and professors work and conduct research for the center.
Christine Puskas, a graduate student working on her doctorate in geophysics, is one of several students who work as a research assistant at UUSS. She currently researches seismic activity in Yellowstone Park.
Students use UUSS as a research stepping stone to publish research papers and, in Puskas’s case, earn a degree.
The U recognized UUSS as an entity in 1966 and since then has gained national recognition for its research in the Intermountain West, according to UUSS’ Web site. The center is funded through both state and federal money, along with small private donations.